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Hey everyone, I have absolutly no idea as to where to put this thread other then here, so forgive me, but I wanted to chronicle the progress of my Darktrooper armor in progress, both for you guys and also as a motivation to keep this going.

I went down to Home Depot today w/ my girlfriend and looked around for some materials to get started. Im primarily going to start on the JP first and the helmet when it arrives within the next few days. Please comment and critique anything you more experienced prop makers might see wrong or know of better way to do something.

Please fogive my current list of supplies, but I am building this from scratch

So far what I have:

-2, 3 panel alluminum vents to cut and use for JP vents
-Black and Dark Grey spray paint (testing these for the right look)
-PVC attachments of varying shapes to experiment making the JP muzzle/thruster
- 4 (need another pack cause they ran out) semi dome doorstops

Now you may be thinking "what are the doorstops for?" Well, I thank my G/F for finding this, because its for the white round objects you see on the Darktrooper, two on both knees to the sides, and two on the chest piece. I have no idea what they are called, but I call them the "frankenstien bits." They match perfectly with the shape I needed, and they are proportional to my body as well. I feel this project is going slowly, but surely. I will post some pics later tonight of my materials for you all to see. I'll keep you guys updated!!

I will soon be recieving an F/X helmet which I will modify to a Darktrooper, mainly because of its size, the dome is correct for the DK and I cannot sculpt that well yet As far as which phase its at, its more a phase two, only because Im building the Battlefront 2 version, rather then the phase three fom DarkForces, because there are not many ref. pics of that.

Here are the pics of my supplies, dont laugh, its a start. With these few piece, It'll be part of something much bigger. So I'll be pulling a Magiver...

Well, I didnt have much time, but I experimented with the nozzle pieces today to see how it would turn out. Well after cutting and some sanding, I have one piece of the large puzzle lmao, the very bottom piece of the muzzle. It looks very good and accurate, but Im going to have to craft the rest of the thruster assembly. The black paint turned out well too, but I need to repaint the piece, because I was covered in PVC dust and got some on the paint by accident. Here are some pics.

The last pic is of two pieces put together. Originally, I thought perhaps it may work out that way, but the white piece's "skirt" is too short, so I need that part to be alot taller. So thats it so far. Thanks!!!

Hey Andy, dont worry about making the pics full size. I went ahead today, and using the one piece I already have, drew up to full size the schematics of one side of the JP. So now im heading over to hom depot to get some of those "for sale" signs to use that hard plastic. I may have one section of the JP done tonight, not sure yet. I also have to find another paint as well for the grey. More coming soon!!

I finnally got the main materials, and I need to get some more in the near future for the completion of the JP. I also found the right color for sure this time, and its also a gloss which will give it that "shiny" look that a regular stormtrooper has. I got the base pieces cut as well. Using the existing nozzle piece I had made, I made measurements based on the size of that piece. I feel the measurements came out pretty good sized, and compared them to my size and seem proportional. Another thing, I figured how to make the "Frakenstien" bits, I finished one today, through experimentation. Here are some pics...Enjoy.

Well, heres the main material, these were actually half the price of the smaller "for sale signs," I can have fun with these though...

Next is the measurements I made. I dont have a picture of the whole thruster set up, but heres the main body half for you all to see. It only shows the main portion of it, it is actually 15 inches tall.

Now here is the cut outs, those are two pieces overlapped, im still figuring how to hold all these piece together with out it falling apart. Stuffing anyone?

After experimenting, and searching for something, I came up with this and it works! A little rough, but I can fix. What I like about it, is that these were doorstops, hollow, with a removable backplate. I cut holes through the center, and pushed a red screw cover from behind and hotglued it in place. I then put the back cover back on and it is ready to go.

Finnally, the correct color paint I will be using.

Im hoping my helmet will be here tomorrow so I can begin work on that. Well thats is for today, LMK what you guys think.

Good news, a buddy of mine who wants me to help him (with the others interested as well) make stormtrooper armor, told me he has his own vacu-form machine. So since this news, we can immediatly begin making the sculpts. Having a meeting today about it. I will be sculpting the Darktrooper armor, and help them as they sculpt their stormtrooper armor. Should work out in the end.

It dosnt look like much, but I will say this much of it took me just little over 2 hours to do. I began building the backside of the JP (the part that will rest against the back armor) because that has the most boxy and less detailed areas. If you notice the top "wing" thats taped, not attached, I have it going at an angle that is seen in the ref pics. I feel its going to turn out pretty well.
Also, the "frankenbits," I know there is only 5 there...well I accidentally ruined one doorstop, so yea...Well here are the pics.

I was noticing that the upper portion of the jet pack was a little wide at the center, and that the angles going downward was too short as well, so I cut trapazoid section out and it looks more accurate to the games model. I also began doing the vent sections. It looks like its flat in the pics, but they are bent upward at an angle. I plan to attach this, angling inward to give it a more realistic look to it. Hard to get a good pic of that as well. Thanks for loooking!

I got my FX helmt today, (like a little kid on christmas day, ripped it open while my mom stood at the corner horrified by my savage excitment) Within a half hour of opening it, I have cut out the vents and painted all piece minus the back piece, because Im not sure how Im gonna go ahead and construct the "point," thinking making a vacu-form backplate that will fit the FX. Heres a pic right out of the box, but I will post some pics later tonight after its been painted up.